Weed shortage imminent in Washington state ahead of first legal sales

Legal weed is about to become a reality for residents of Washington state, but onlookers to the experiment-in-waiting say pot enthusiasts can expect one peculiar problem to arise right off the bat.

According to a recent report from the Associated Press, Washington’s Liquor Control
Board plans to issue 15 of its first 20 licenses next week to
retailers, who will in turn begin being able to sell recreational
weed legally starting the following day. Once those dispensaries
open for business, Washington will become the second place in the
United States where adults will be able to purchase pot without
necessarily worrying about breaking any laws.

"Will there be shortages?" Simmons asked the AP during a
recent interview. "The answer to that is yes."

Simmons isn’t the only one with dire predictions. Randy Oliver,
the chief scientist at one of two labs in Washington where
state-regulated marijuana will be tested, told AP that his
facility has seen only a fraction of what they expected.

"There's such a small stream of samples coming through,"
he said. "There's going to be some long lines and some high
prices."

On Monday, the AP reported that not only will only two dozen
dispensaries be able to open at first, but that just a fraction —
79 of the more than 2,600 interested parties — have been approved
to grow marijuana.

In addition to the Analytical 360 in Yakima, WA where Oliver
works, state-sanctioned weed can be tested at another certified
facility named Confidence Analytics in Seattle. Any testing
brought there at this point could cause further delays ahead of
next week’s anticipated launch date, however, lending some to
fear that the first few days of legal weed in Washington won’t
live up to expectations.

"When people start calling we have to tell them we're not
going to have anything for them until August," Bob Leeds of
growers Sea of Green Farms told AP. "That's a long way off
when you're trying to open a business."

When Colorado became the first state in the US to legally sell
recreational marijuana on January 1 of this year, unexpected
demand caused some complications at dispensaries there.
Nevertheless, the sheer magnitude of sales quickly surpassed
expectations and is currently expected to bring millions of
dollars in tax revenue right to the state.

"Every day that we've been in business since Jan. 1 has been
better than my best day of business ever,"Andy Williams,
owner of Denver's Medicine Man dispensary, told Huffington Post
after his first week in business.

Unlike Washington, however, Colorado didn’t enter the weed game
without a head start. The state had years earlier legalized
medicinal weed, establishing an infrastructure along the way that
allowed for a smoother transition when stores opened at the start
of this year to sell weed to adults who lacked a doctor’s note.